Organization and Cleaning

I try to have a clean house. Having one with two little ones and a husband who counts as a little one is next to impossible. I am not at the extreme of having it vacuumed every night and you can probably pick up some dust if you slid your finger over my mantle, but everyone has to pick up their toys (hubby included!) before bedtime.

Anyone who knew me as a child knew that my room was messy. Jillian Jigs is too close to real life. Every toy and piece of clothing was out and I did not mind. Everything would be shoved into my closet for any family event, but it was a disaster most of the time. It wasn’t until i heard this piece of advice as a teen that it finally clicked for me. “Put everything away in the correct spot the first time.” When I heard that, I thought to myself, “Well, DUH.” Guess who didn’t do that, though – me. I would pick up a bracelet and put it on my bed and it would move around in a magical dance just like the sorcerer’s apprentice. Except that it never made it to the correct spot.

I started finally putting things in their correct location and was surprised at how quickly i was able to clean. A modern day miracle, right? It seems like it because a lot of friends want to know who my housekeeper is (currently she’s a cranky lady who doesn’t get paid enough…hint, it’s me) or how my children have clean rooms. As long as you put something where it belongs, you’ll have a house clean in no time, and always know where your car keys are located.